By Thomas F. Schwartz
“Expo 58” or the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair opened on April 17. President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent Herbert Hoover to the fair as his special envoy given Hoover’s forty-four-year association with the country. Hoover addressed a fair audience on July 4, set aside to recognize American independence, with the topic: “On American Ideals.” Observing that the fair represented people and cultures from around the world, Hoover also noted that America, as a nation of immigrants, is also a microcosm of the world. He then went on to note that American ideals were embodied in a democratic republic dedicated “for the dignity of the individual and his rights to religious, economic, social, and political liberty under the rule of law.” America was not the first to express these ideals, most having their origins in the ancient world. But individual rights and freedoms expressed in ancient republics were always replaced with military rulers and in modern times dictators.
Addressing what he saw as common perceptions and misperceptions of America, Hoover avoids the stereotype of the “Ugly American.” Claiming, “we have no desire to impose our formula of life or method of government upon other nations. We make no claim that our system or our people are perfect. As human begins are not usually perfect, we share the domestic imperfections of all free peoples.” Hoover’s larger purpose was a “better understanding of our ideals and aspirations which radiate to other nations.”
America was founded as an ongoing experiment in self-governance. Hoover ended noting that Woodrow Wilson believed the Great War would4 make the world “safe for democracy.” Modifying Wilson’s language but not meaning, Hoover declared, “We must unceasingly strive by all peaceable means to make the world safe for representative government. From representative government alone can come respect for your dignity as men and women, your flowering as individuals, your right to rising chance in life, to self-expression, and to security from sodden uniformity.”